California has decided to sanction gay sex within prison walls for the first time by allowing inmates to have conjugal visits with registered same-sex domestic partners. The change in the rules follows demands by Vernon Foeller, 40, a former club disc jockey who repeatedly sought permission for a visit from his domestic partner. He had the state's first gay conjugal visit in December, even though the formal change in the rule is still pending. "To carve my name into the first brick to be laid in the foundation ... is something I will always be proud of, honestly," Foeller said. In his requests, Foeller had cited a 2003 state law giving registered same-sex couples the same rights as married heterosexuals. Foeller, who is HIV positive and has a domestic partnership dating from 2005, was convicted of attempted burglary and completed his sentence in April. Foeller said that during the conjugal visit his partner was troubled by the interruptions by guards every four hours - a standard procedure during such visits to assure inmates have not escaped or caused harm. "It was more sit in front of the TV and eat and eat and eat and eat," he said from his home in Sacramento. "It wasn't so much seedy as it was just getting to know each other, not some horn-dog experience." American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Alex Cleghorn said he first wrote officials a year ago on Foeller's behalf. "It took several letters written from our office pointing out that they were breaking the law," he said. The ACLU says prisons in Canada allow same-sex conjugal visits and that California, which has the largest US inmate population, appears to be the first US state to take this step. California has allowed conjugal visits since the 1970s. "It doesn't affect that many people," said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "We started this process because of the legislation, the California Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2003," she said. "Basically no person or agency in the state can discriminate against any person or couple on the grounds that that person is a registered domestic partner or a spouse." Gay sex outside of conjugal visits is still banned in California prisons and inmates who marry in prison or same-sex couples in prison are ineligible for the visits. Under the program, an inmate is allowed to live in a small apartment or trailer within the prison grounds for up to 72 hours with a spouse or partner or immediate family members. Visitors are allowed to bring up to 10 condoms. Ref: News.com.au (m)